


The Deal

by ObsessedWithLeviHeichou



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Office, Eventual Smut, Fluff, M/M, Mutual Pining, Office Sex, eren being a ray of sunshine as usual, levi being difficult to get along with as usual, successful levi and eren lol, they both have good jobs idk
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-14
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:28:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27001210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ObsessedWithLeviHeichou/pseuds/ObsessedWithLeviHeichou
Summary: “I’m not sure if I’m not properly speaking English, or if you’ve suffered from a TBI right now. I literally just told you that this wasn’t happening.”“Mr. Ackerman, this could be a really great partnership for Sina. We have the contacts and connections to bring your products to new-““If you can’t follow instructions, or use your ears, then you can not-so-kindly piss off.” He hung up. He looked blankly at the phone in front of him, now devoid of useless social interaction.Ah yes, the beginning of the new fiscal year.In which Levi is a difficult CFO and Hanji is only trying to help out by hiring a hip, young, marketing team for their company. Yes, for the company, and not because they think a certain marketing director might be able to make Levi a bit more workable. Of course not.
Relationships: Levi/Eren Yeager
Comments: 27
Kudos: 100
Collections: Levi x Eren





	1. but wait, there's more!

**Author's Note:**

> alright i know i have two other fics going but i had serious writers block with those and law school has effectively kicked my ass. i felt like writing this? we'll see

“I’m not sure if I’m not properly speaking English, or if you’ve suffered from a TBI right now. I literally _just_ told you that this wasn’t happening.”

“Mr. Ackerman, this could be a really great partnership for Sina. We have the contacts and connections to bring your products to new-“

“If you can’t follow instructions, or use your ears, then you can not-so-kindly piss off.” He hung up. He looked blankly at the phone in front of him, now devoid of useless social interaction.

Ah yes, the beginning of the new fiscal year. Levi had a confusing love-hate relationship with this particular time period. As a human being? The new fiscal year brought a slate-cleaning that most people could only dream of. As a CFO of a large corporation? Levi despised the thought of switching over all the books and having to meet new representatives. Was it at all possible to be blessed with a representative that _actually_ knew what they were talking about? Did marketing representatives who didn’t waste Levi’s precious time exist? Probably not. He groaned into his now-cold cup of coffee and put his slim fingers to his temples. An honest, but vain attempt to will the oncoming headache away.

Slate eyes turned to look out the window of his high-rise office, scanning the cars and people below on the street. The man pursed his lips in jealously of all those people down there living their lives unconfined to a stuffy office. How dare they infringe on his bad attitude? He scoffed and took a sip of the room temperature bean water. _Blegh._ Levi gagged.

“Petra.” Levi asked, well, more like stated, into the phone on his office desk.

“Yes, Levi?” A calm voice answered.

“I need a new coffee.” Levi hummed for a moment, then reevaluated. “Actually, no. I want a black tea.” He released his finger from the page button.

“Sure, I’ll have Auruo go grab that for you.” Levi’s pale face scrunched up in disgust.

“I want either you or Gunter to get it.” Levi said, lifting his finger for a final time before plopping down on his leather chair. He crossed one leg over the other, resting his ankle on his knee. Petra replied faintly, but he wasn’t listening. He had already started to look through some of the new files that needed to be organized before the company started to make deals. If he could just get five more minutes, five more _goddamn minutes_ to organize himself, he would be infinitely less stressed.

_Beep, beep, beep._

Of course, Levi wasn’t about to get a break today. The universe had other plans for him. In this case, the universe was a tall blonde CEO named Erwin Smith, who was currently paging Levi.

“What.” Levi grunted. He heard a low chuckle on the other end of the line.

“Just confirming that I’ll be seeing you at the meeting in fifteen.” A pause. “You did remember that we have a meeting with Trost Marketing today, right?” Levi bit the side of his cheek, considering whether or not an excuse would be proper.

“I’ll be there.” He sighed, twirling a pen in his fingers. He could _hear_ Erwin smiling on the other end of the line. He was always too excited about business.

“Wonderful. I’ll see you soon! Oh, Hanji will be there. They ended up having a huge hand in this.” Levi snorted.

“If Hanji had anything to do with this, I’m going to preemptively say that this is a million-dollar mistake.” It was too late; Erwin had already hung up. _Fantastic._ And wow, Levi’s day couldn’t have possibly gotten any better, right? 

“I thought I told Petra to send herself or Gunter?” Levi asked, glaring at the two-toned haired man standing in front of him with a cup of tea in his trembling hands. “You didn’t even knock either, were you raised in a barn?” Levi held up a hand. “Don’t waste my time answering that.”

Silently, Auruo placed the cup of tea on Levi’s desk before scurrying away to the safe haven of his own office. The offending Styrofoam cup was mocking Levi. Sure, he could just _drink it_ like a normal human being, but something about Auruo made Levi’s insides want to shrivel up and fumigate themselves. His nose scrunched up at the light smell of English breakfast tea before he committed to putting on his jacket and heading out for the meeting. He hesitated at the doorframe, giving the seemingly innocent cup one last fond look. _Fuck it,_ he was thirsty and was likely going to need this if Hanji had anything to do with the new team in charge of marketing.

Cup in one hand, laptop clutched under the other arm, Levi trudged to the conference room on the next floor up. He didn’t believe in elevators and had possibly believed himself to be a closet masochist, so he took the stairs, taking extra care to stomp on each one. Upon arrival, he noticed a very excitable looking Hanji bouncing up and down in their seat at the side of the long table. _You can survive this, just let them have their way._ Levi sat down next to them but noticed that they were being… _suspicious_. Levi turned to look at Hanji, curiosity written all over his delicate facial features.

“You’re awfully quiet for someone who had so much to do with this.” Levi stated, lowering his eyelids and squinting. Hanji’s glasses gleamed in the sunlight coming through the window, making them look even more maniacal than usual. Hanji was never quiet.

“Just wait.” They said, bouncing even harder. Levi raised an eyebrow. The last time Hanji had told him to “just wait,” that particular hire of theirs had been fired within a week. Levi hadn’t given a real reason; he just wasn’t fond of them. This was how most of his firings or contract rescissions happened. “Trust me,” They continued, pushing their glasses up. “I picked this one out for you.”

“Alright, I’ve heard enough.” Levi made the move to stand up before Hanji pulled his arm back down. Like _hell_ he was going to let Hanji bring him into another shitty marketing contract because they think he’ll get on with one of the team members.

“Oh, no you don’t short stuff. You can’t leave until you see this.” Levi rolled his eyes and felt his headache coming back, full force. He had yet to touch the tea, still wary of Auruo’s hands on the cup. Why did Hanji have to do this? Why did they consistently have to take a shit on Levi’s workdays? Why did they seem to always make things more difficult?

Oh, right. Hanji said that it was adding some “spice” to their lives. Levi personally thought that their sentiment was a load of bullshit and belonged nowhere near his office. However, Erwin had known Hanji for as long as he had known Levi, so Hanji was allowed to make poor decisions about staff and whatever else they wanted.

“Ah, yes, please, come sit!” Erwin’s smooth voice carried into the office. He entered and was followed by a group of four young adults. _Kids._ Levi scoffed under his breath as he watched fresh meat make their way into the conference room. Hanji’s leg had started to bounce furiously under the table.

“Four-eyes, you’re giving me motion sickness.” Levi deadpanned, looking towards Hanji. Hanji’s attention, however, was focused on the team of youngsters currently _very loudly_ making their way into the conference room. Levi took a moment to think about the fact that these kids were _laughing._ They were having fun, in an office, doing work. His eyebrows raised as he saw them sit down.

“Alright. I’m Erwin, I’m the CEO of Sina. That’s Levi, the CFO, and that’s Hanji, our chief strategist for marketing and public relations.” Erwin pointed to each of his coworkers as he made introductions. “Why don’t you introduce yourselves?” He smiled brightly at the group of applicants.

“Ah yes, I’m Eren. I’m the marketing director of Trost Marketing. I already met Hanji, and Erwin,” Eren turned to Levi with a big smile, bright green eyes shining in the sun, “It’s nice to meet you Levi!”

Now, usually Levi considers himself one good at remembering almost everything that comes into his ears. Today was just an off day, because other than maybe remembering the names of Eren’s compatriots if asked at gunpoint, he wouldn’t have been able to tell anyone what their titles were. He knew that Eren came with Scary, Two-Tone Horse, and He-Man, and that was the best description he could give. 

The rest of the meeting was a complete wash. Levi said nothing, he made no movements, the table heard not a peep from his mouth the entire time. Instead, he spent the entire hour studying the brown-haired marketing director seated directly in front of him. His body language was open, his facial features were friendly, he used a lot of hand gestures. An overall animated person. Eren had been here only an hour and had already brought Hanji to tears because of a joke and had already earned one of Erwin’s award-winning smiles.

Oh, and Levi was doing so well in Hanji and Erwin’s eyes. They had never seen him so quiet during one of these meetings before. Operative words: _was_ and _had_.

“How old are you?” Levi blurted out; fingers laced together, chin resting on them. Erwin paused his own sentence to stare at Levi, who had clearly interrupted. Eren turned to Levi, raising one perfectly shaped brown eyebrow.

“Me?” He pointed to himself.

“Who else does it look like I’m speaking to?” Levi scoffed.

“I’m twenty-four?” Eren replied, unsure of his answer. Levi nodded.

“How’d you get your job?” Eren gulped, suddenly feeling on trial. Hanji and Erwin were silent. The rest of the “brats” as Levi would call them had seemingly stopped breathing.

“I applied?” Eren said, eyebrows furrowing. “Is there a problem?”

“No.” Levi stated, leaning back in his seat. Erwin turned slowly to face Levi, raising an eyebrow with wide eyes. He was silently praying that Levi would refrain from speaking for the rest of the meeting.

Well, Erwin got his blessing. Not much was said after that. Erwin cleared his throat and Hanji jumped up, thanking them for their time. The four kids left after saying their goodbyes, with Eren’s gaze lingering just a bit longer on Levi than Hanji or Erwin. After Levi was sure, _absolutely sure_ that they were out of earshot, he turned to Erwin and Hanji.

“No.”

Hanji groaned.

“Levi, they’re perfect. They’re young, they’re fun, they have plenty of good connections. We need them, they know how to appeal to younger people.” Levi winced. Thirty-one wasn’t _that_ old, now was it? He stood his ground and shook his head.

“They’re too young.” Levi turned and walked out of the conference room, leaving Erwin and Hanji standing there by themselves. He needed a nap. A break. A drink. He pretty much just wanted to leave the office. Something about Eren made Levi feel weird, and Levi was _not_ one for feeling weird. That was not a feeling that happened to Levi Ackerman and it was not going to happen again.

So, Levi went home, he relaxed, took a much needed bath, got in a _solid_ three hours of sleep, went for a morning run, made his own coffee, and headed to the office early to ensure that _today_ would be a better day. It had to be, he had done everything to ensure success.

How unfortunate it was, then, that Levi looked up to see Eren Jaeger knocking on his office door bright and early at 7AM.


	2. prepared for the worst

“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph,” Levi grumbled as he rested his forehead in his hands. He peeked out from between his fingers only to be rewarded by the bright green eyes of a brat through the window near his door that faced the rest of the office. Of course, this was the _one_ day Levi didn’t pull the blinds shut. He had been expecting it to be a good day, so he figured he would try to be a little more personable than usual. Levi decided that the blinds were never staying open ever again. 

_Thump._

His forehead was now flatly on the desk in front of him. Why did this have to happen today? He was so prepared. He had done everything right. Levi gingerly pressed down on the “page” button on his desk phone.

“Oh, Levi, Mr. Jaeger is here to see you.” Petra’s kind voice rang out through the phone speakers. A strange vocal combination of frustration, anger, and disappointment made its way through Levi’s throat just loud enough for Petra to hear it on the other end of the line.

“Tell him to go speak to Hanji. Didn’t we talk about letting visitors near my door?” Levi tapped his finger, his forehead still kissing the dark wood beneath it. “I really thought we had this conversation already, Petra. Do we need to have it again?” He heard Petra sigh on the other end of the line.

“I tried, but he insisted on waiting on the couch near my desk. When I got up to use the bathroom, he must have snuck past to stand by your door.” Levi growled. Who the fuck did this Eren Jaeger think he was?

“Tell him to speak to Hanji.” Levi released the page button and sat up in his chair, eyes trained to the window to witness Eren leaving his domain. He saw Eren turn; Petra must have come to speak with him. Levi smirked as Eren’s form walked away.

Now-grouchy, Levi turned back to his computer to get some spreadsheets out of the way before he had to start making phone calls to the insufferable advertising teams once again. But life was never that easy.

_Knock, knock._

Levi’s head whipped up to see one (1) Eren Jaeger at his office window, now getting his filthy hand germs all over the clean glass. Levi looked at the younger man, who now had his nose nearly pressed onto the glass and a scowl on his pretty face. _Pretty?_ Levi’s nose twitched in annoyance at the description that his brain conjured, but he couldn’t lie to himself by saying it was false. He straightened himself up, sitting back in his chair and crossing his arms in front of him.

Eren returned the stance.

This was now a show of dominance, like some History channel special. Levi’s lips curled up into the smallest of smirks, and his eyes narrowed at the boy out in the hall. There was no way he’d lose this fight. Levi knew he was a stubborn bastard; Hanji had said that it was one of his best and worst traits. What Levi didn’t know, however, was that Eren was also a stubborn bastard, possibly even more than himself.

So, they stayed there.

Levi’s phone rang multiple times. He only answered when Hanji came through as a page.

“Why are you ignoring our clients’ calls?” Hanji asked, sounding irritated. Levi shrugged to nobody in particular. Leave it to Hanji to call while Levi was in this sort of situation.

“There’s a shitty stubborn brat getting his nose grease all over my window, I can’t talk to clients right now, this take priority.” There was silence at the other end of the line.

“Oooooookay. Levi, seriously? He probably just wants to speak with you about work.” Levi scoffed. Of course Eren wanted to talk about work, that’s where they currently were. If Eren didn’t want to talk about work, that was all the more reason to not let him in.

“Then he can wait his turn and follow procedure like everyone else.” Hanji sighed. They knew that this was a losing battle.

“I swear, you’re insufferable sometimes. Just let the kid in before I come over there.” Levi’s steel blue eyes rolled.

“You know if you come down here, you’re going to get the same treatment.” Levi twisted his chair back and forth a bit. He was a man of procedure, clearly, and he didn’t appreciate when people went behind his back (or his assistant’s) to skip steps. This… _gesture_ of persistence may have won points with Hanji, or maybe even Erwin, but Levi wasn’t one to bow down to people who didn’t know when to stop. Not knowing when to stop was a sign of immaturity, of which Levi had no patience for.

“Fine. Sit there, see how far that gets you today.” Hanji hung up, leaving Levi alone once again in his glorified cubicle with a window. He stared at Eren, who was staring at him.

This continued for two more hours, with Levi slowly sinking down in his chair until Eren could no longer see him over the desk. Levi’s neck was bent at an awkward angle and he was half hanging off the chair, but it was preferable to the realization that he was going to have to leave to take a piss soon. Being uncomfortable took his thoughts away from his bladder. He cursed his mammalian form and scooted back up in the chair. Eren was _still_ standing there.

“Christ kid, you really don’t give up, do you?” Levi said to himself, standing up and straightening out. He would have to get this over with, he wasn’t about to piss in a bottle or sit there until he burst. He took a step towards the door but stopped himself when Eren perked up. _Like a puppy._ Levi tried to mask the amusement on his face with a scowl, but he was feeling another off day coming on and knew he probably just looked constipated instead. As he stepped forward, Eren stood taller and removed his face from the glass.

He had left a grease print. Levi’s stomach churned at the sight, and he was frustrated that he would have to clean that off later. Just another way Eren was currently wasting his time. In fact, Eren had wasted nearly half of his workday. The older, grumpier man groaned internally, thinking about all the missed client calls he had to return, all the paperwork he still had to do. He could have just _done the work_ while sitting there in his office, but instead, he chose to focus all of his attention on those big green eyes staring at him.

 _Alright._ Levi thought to himself. This was it; this was the big moment of the day. He rested his hand on the door handle and breathed in until his lungs hurt. During the breath out, Levi turned the knob oh so gently, figuring that Eren was going to pull it open anyway. However, Levi was pleasantly surprised. There was no yanking of the door, no yelling or immediate vocalizations. Instead, Eren stood there, hands clasped in front of him, a slight smile on his face.

Levi actually had to stop, turn, and stare. He must have made a face, because Eren’s smile only got wider.

“Levi! I thought we could go over some stuff for the deal with Rose?” Levi sighed.

“Let me piss and we can talk.” Levi paused for a moment. “We aren’t doing a deal with Rose, so you might want to spend the next few minutes thinking of a better topic or else I’ll be spending the afternoon returning calls instead.” Levi heard Eren stutter.

“But, Levi-“

“Mr. Ackerman, please, until you’ve earned it.”

“Mr. Ackerman, Hanji told me that you were still planning on working with Rose?” A confused look crossed Eren’s face as Levi stared coldly into his expressive green eyes. Levi sighed. Why did Hanji have to pull these stunts? They _knew_ the deal with Rose was off.

“Hanji was wrong. The Rose rep had about as many brain cells as a sea sponge and I refuse to make a deal with someone who doesn’t follow directions.” Levi gave a pointed glance towards Eren with a raised eyebrow. Hopefully, Eren would understand this message and stop pushing Levi’s buttons. For Christssakes, it had been less than twenty four hours and Levi was already having a worse day than previous.

Unfortunately for Levi, very rarely did his bad days improve. He wasn’t expecting much. Eren shuffled his feet for a second.

“Are you going to respond, or are you going to fuck up the carpet more?” Levi’s foot was now tapping, his arms crossed. Eren pursed his lips.

“Alright, I’ll have something else for you when you come back. Have fun!” Eren smiled and waved. Levi rolled his eyes. _It’s not like I’m going to go die in the shitter or something._

Without a word, Levi walked past Eren towards the restrooms. He took his sweet time in there, paying extra attention to scrubbing any sort of biological material off of his hands before returning to his office. Levi paused for a moment to think, which was not _unlike_ him, but also not a usual occurrence.

Eren seemed like a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed kid. Why did Levi feel such distain towards him? Was it his ability to communicate clearly without pissing people off? Was it the lack of resting bitch face? Levi dried his hands. This was no time to consider why Eren put such a bad taste in his mouth. Or maybe it was? Levi paused again.

He could do this two ways. He could make this meeting difficult for Eren by being his cold, slightly condescending self, or he could try to make it easier by only being cold. _I’ll skip the condescension, Hanji will be proud. Maybe they’ll stop putting FUCKING KIDS in the office._

—

Levi passed by Petra and glanced towards Eren, who was sitting calmly outside his office.

“Come on kid, I got calls to return.” _Was that condescending? Fuck._ Levi was already 0/1.

Eren stood up quickly and followed Levi into the office. Pale fingers gestured towards a very uncomfortable looking chair that made an unfortunate squeaking noise when Eren plopped down.

“Now-“ Levi started, gracefully taking a seat on his throne of a desk chair, “What did you come up with?” He studied Eren’s face for a moment and could have sworn he saw the cogs turning in the brain underneath the well-styled long brown hair.

“Sir, I think you should rethink the partnership with Rose.”

Levi stopped breathing for nearly three seconds as he registered the information.

“Now-“ Eren started, holding up his hands defensively, “Hear me out. The rep they told to call you may not have been your type of person. But their company is solid and they have some really good ideas. Together, the campaign would be really strong. We could definitely market it towards the shareholders and the consumers easily, without much need for additional marketing materials. My team thinks that this is a really good opportunity, and Hanji thinks so as well. I know you run the books, and I would like for you to consider this.” Eren folded his hands in his lap and looked expectantly towards the older man in front of him.

Levi’s expression left much to the imagination- It was blank. He shifted in his chair and brought a finger to his chin. Was this really what Eren was proposing? Levi took a mental note to spend extra time on the pot next time, because apparently 6 minutes wasn’t enough for Eren to come up with anything better.

“So, you’re telling me that you think it’s a smart business move for me to call them back and, I’m assuming, _apologize_ to their rep and then grovel for a deal?” Eren nodded slowly, eyes glancing towards the floor and back up.

“Yup.” He said. Levi nodded slowly.

“Are you stupid?” Eren’s eyebrows shot up. “No, really.” Levi stood up and placed both hands on his desk. “I told them no because companies should always put their best forward when trying to secure deals as such. The person they put me on with wasn’t their best. I have a hard time respecting companies who do that.” Eren nodded. At least he was absorbing the information.

“And also, I do understand what you’re saying. Rose has plenty of nice products and offerings that would go well with our current promotions, and a partnership would be fiscally responsible. However, it’s the principle of the thing. If we let this one slide, I’m going to have to take hundreds of calls from day-one interns because that’s what they think we’ll agree to. I won’t. Sina is too large and too well-rounded to fold on principles of discipline and respect.” A pause. Levi sat back down and ran a hand through his black hair, stopping to massage the back of his undercut. _That wasn’t too condescending, right? Maybe this was 1/2?_

“Alright. I understand. I’ll be back tomorrow with another option for you, I’ll get with my team and we’ll come up with some other ideas. Thank you for your time, Mr. Ackerman.” Eren smiled gently and stood up, holding his hand out to shake.

And he held it out.

For like, 15 seconds as Levi’s brain re-circuited to be able to respond to Eren’s respectful closing statements.

See, Levi is a man of absolute order. Years of stress and a childhood of anxiety had wired his brain and fine-tuned his consciousness to be prepared for most, if not all, outcomes of social interactions. For his first interaction with Eren, Levi expected to be frustrated, maybe angry even at Eren’s bold attitude and lack of respect.

Being shown kindness and understanding was not something that Levi was accustomed to, nor had he prepared for it. So he sat there, buffering.

 _Ahem._ Levi cleared his throat and shook Eren’s outstretched hand as he stood up. Would Eren mention his lack of real-time response? _He better not._ Eren was young, but not stupid. If he valued his job (or his career, or his life,) he wouldn’t mention this incident ever again.

“Thanks for… Understanding. I appreciate the clear communication.” Levi stated, dropping his hand. Eren smiled.

“Sure thing, Mr. Ackerman. I’ll make sure my team updates everyone and we’ll have a new plan by tomorrow.”

Levi watched as Eren walked out of his office, carefully closing the door behind him. Levi sat down and stared at his desk.

That could have gone a whole host of ways, but Levi hadn’t expected Eren to actually be _good at his job._ He was respectful, knowledgeable, and seemed to be invested in his work. Levi pinched the bridge of his nose.

_Beep beep._

_“_ What.” Levi muttered into his phone.

“So! How’d it go? Eren didn’t look like he wanted to kill a man, so I’m assuming it went well?” Levi sighed.

“Well, I don’t want to kill him.”

“That’s great! How else was it?” Levi snorted.

“Why are you always so nosy? You get paid to manage PR, not my personal relations with coworkers.” Hanji laughed.

“Oh, but Levi, PR can stand for personal relations too.” Levi groaned.

“Alright four-eyes. It was fine, it went fine. I’ll have more information tomorrow, is that better?” Levi could sense Hanji nodding on the other end of the line. They’d been friends for years. Levi knew most of their mannerisms.

“Sounds good.” The line went dead, and Levi was left to his own devices.

He spent the rest of his workday shuffling through calls he missed (ignored) and filing away paperwork that needed to be submitted. _I should have worked at a funeral parlor, maybe that would have been more interesting._ No matter how hard he tried, Levi couldn’t get the excitable brunet out of his mind.

Eren was so… _friendly._ So open. So ready for conversation. _“Did he come out of the womb making friends?”_ Levi asked himself out loud while packing up to head home. In all of his years at Sina, he had never met someone who was so approachable. Now, Levi never claimed to be an approachable person, but that only made it harder for him to consider that trait in others. Being approachable to Levi meant being able to approach _him_ , something that _apparently_ scared other people off.

Once home, Levi spent the night pampering himself as usual with a warm bath and a glass of wine. He read the news and checked on the stock market. As he cozied up in bed, he realized that he didn’t have a massive headache, or stomachache, or random joint pain. He did, however, have strange heart palpitations and a slight smirk growing on his pale lips.

 _What the hell?_ Levi jumped up out of bed and ran to his mirror to make sure he wasn’t dying. Nope, normal. In fact, he looked a bit less pale, even slightly blushy. His grey eyes showed just a bit more icy blue than usual. He shook his head. _Cancer._ He thought, as he jumped to the worst possible conclusion to prepare for the worst possible outcome, as usual.

After splashing some cold water on his face, Levi got back into bed. He stared at his ceiling fan for a few minutes as he tried to decipher why his body felt weird.

Out of all possible, horrible, unfortunate issues Levi’s brain came up with for these new physical sensations, it missed the most obvious yet least considered option. Levi was excited to go to work tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ty for anyone who’s still invested in this ;w; school kicked my butt and i got a sudden increase of creativity, so hopefully this still flows. other fics may be on the way, but i still have somewhat of a creative block. im sorry for the super late update :c ily guys


	3. excuse my rudeness, but could you please piss off?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i am trying so HARD to get more creativity back and i just love writing these two way too much. hopefully this is acceptable ^_^ thank you for all the kudos and comments, it makes my entire day to see you enjoying!

_Beep beep. Beep beep._

“Huh?” Levi gasped, as he shot up out of bed. He turned to look around the room quickly, expecting the horrendous beeping noise to have been coming from something a lot more threatening than his iPhone sitting on his bedside table.

“Oh, fuck off.” He grimaced, as he shut the offending noise off and flopped back into bed.

Levi had _never_ slept in long enough to hear his alarm. In fact, he actually wasn’t sure what it sounded like until this morning, when it very rudely interrupted his dreams. Oh yeah; Levi also _never_ dreamt. It just simply wasn’t one of the things his brain was ever capable of. Anxiety? Check. Playing people like chess? Double check. Memorizing almost all of the client’s needs and information? Triple check.

Dreaming? Unfortunately not. Not usually.

Pale eyelids fluttered closed again over steel blue eyes as he brought his fingers to the bridge of his nose. Squeezing his eyes shut, he tried desperately to remember what he was dreaming about, but sadly, could come up with no leads. He groaned. It was probably time to get out of bed anyway, since he slept in. He would have to miss his morning run, which frustrated him.

Lips pursed, Levi double checked the time and was thankful that he had prepared for this type of situation whenever the hell he had decided to set that alarm. He would be able to get in a pretty quick jog while still finishing his morning routine of shitting, showering, and shaving. As usual, he was planning on finishing it up with a coffee for the ride to work.

After his morning activities were complete, Levi headed off to work, making good time and making sure to be in his chair thirty minutes early. God forbid he get run over again by the rush of employees trying to push through the doors five minutes before the work day started. There was no way that he would be caught in that mess. You’d think that people would just leave earlier, but instead, they just assume shoving people out of the way will work better. Stupid, truly.

Levi sighed and sunk into his swivel chair, twisting it back and forth lightly while preparing his computer and documents for another full day of _fun_. At this point, Levi was just trying to convince himself that he enjoyed work. Unfortunately for him, there wasn’t actually anything else he felt he’d rather be doing. He could quit, he already had a sizable sum in savings, but then where would that leave him?

Likely 1000% less angry all the time, honestly.

However, Levi wasn’t the type of man to just up and leave, so he mentally decided, as he did every morning, to make this particular day good. He would, of course, have to disregard the issue that most of those days ended out poorly. There was no room for discouragement.

_Knock knock._

“Oh, Petra, you’re early. Go ahead and run to the café to grab us some coffees, would you?” Levi responded without looking up from his desk.

“Sure boss, what kind?”

That wasn’t Petra. Levi looked up, meeting two very green eyes in the skull of a very tall tan man. Definitely _not_ Petra. Levi would be sure to always look before speaking next time, because apparently, even his mornings before the rest of the employees got there weren’t sacred anymore. He sighed.

“Jaeger, why are you here so early? Shouldn’t you be sleeping or jerking off like the rest of the people who work here?”

Eren rubbed the back of his neck with a nervous smile and laugh.

“I mean normally I would sleep in, but I was too excited to tell you what we came up with, so I wanted to catch you early.”

Levi nodded without responding, fully expecting Eren to continue his thought. However, Eren was clearly asking for permission to speak, which Levi missed. In turn, Eren just stood there awkwardly.

“Uh,” He stammered, “Would you actually like a coffee first? Oh shit, I didn’t even think about whether you had other things to do. I can go grab some drinks for us beforehand.”

Levi’s eye twitched. This much social interaction before business hours was unprecedented, and he was clearly not ready to entertain the excited marketing director. But, a coffee didn’t sound repulsive and Eren was clearly alright with making the run to the café. This was a golden opportunity for Levi to continue his morning while also avoiding casual conversation.

“Yeah, that’d be good.” The CFO really had a way with words. A true novelist.

Eren stood there for a second too many for Levi’s taste, which meant that there were more vocalizations coming his way. Internally groaning, Levi inhaled sharply.

“I usually just drink a large black, but you can get yourself whatever. I usually have Petra run and grab whatever she wants as well. Here,” Levi held out one of those thick black metal credit cards, “Use this and just bring me the receipt.”

Eren nodded. “Do you want anything to eat?”

Levi shook his head. “If you want something to eat, you can go for it. I shit money for a living so have at it.”

Confused and slightly concerned about his associate’s choice of phrase, Eren grabbed the card from Levi and turned out of the office to head to the café. Levi turned back to his work, continuing to organize it for the most efficiency.

Today, he had a _lot_ to do. He had to deal with Eren and, most likely, the rest of Eren’s cohort, along with returning a shitload of phone calls, filing paperwork, and meeting with Erwin about the upcoming business trip that they would be going on. He didn’t have a ton of time to spend on Eren’s new scheme and silently prayed that it would be a stupid idea he could shoot down.

He was mistaken, as usual when planning out his actions with Eren.

Before he knew it, Eren was back; two coffees and a pastry bag in tow.

_He better not-_

Too late. Eren had plopped down and begun _eating_ in Levi’s office.

_Fuck._

_“_ If you get even _one_ crumb on my floor I swear to god, you’ll be on the ground cleaning it up by hand.”

Slowly, Eren placed the offending pastry back into the bag and opted to have a sip of coffee instead. He placed Levi’s coffee on his desk and sat back down, clearing his throat.

“So, Mr. Ackerman, what we were thinking was a partnership with the Survey Corporation instead. We know you like the products that Rose are offering, but dislike their employees. Survey has a similar product listing, and I checked the records. You’ve previously had conversations-“

“Dealt with.” Levi interrupted.

“Yeah, uh, “dealt with” their communications team. The partnership was successful at the time, and they’re looking for additional marketing for one of their satellite companies.” Eren took another swig of coffee. “We think that this would be financially comparable and an excellent opportunity for us to work on Sina’s reputation for outstanding marketing.”

Levi nodded and took an apprehensive sip of the coffee Eren had brought. Medium roast, not burned. Genuinely not bad for his first coffee run.

“Oh, also,” Eren leaned forward to hand Levi his card, “It was pretty cheap. I just footed the bill because I felt bad.”

Really? Kid wouldn’t even take his money? Eren Jaeger really was a treat. Levi grabbed the card.

“Next time, use my card.”

Eren nodded without a word, taking another sip. When Levi gave an order, he was fully prepared for it to be followed. Charity was not welcome in the Ackerman household.

“Well, you’ve done your research. They were on my call list for the afternoon, so I’ll pitch to them what you pitched to me. They aren’t as insufferable as most others.” The idea wasn’t half bad, but it was a bit simple. Eren’s job wasn’t to state the obvious, it was to innovate. “This is a bit simple though, I was honestly expecting more when you interrupted my morning.”

_Damn, it’s only 7:35 and I’m already being an asshole. 0/1 today._

Eren nodded again. “Honestly, I know it’s simple, but I also really think it’s a viable option.” He lifted his hand to his chin, resting on it. “I know it’s not as exciting as you were expecting, but constant excitement can lead to poor decisions and a lack of long-term planning.”

“What am I, stupid? I know that. I’m trying to get across that what you’ve described to me was something already on my list. Hanji hired you to give us _new_ ideas, not suggestions of which to try first.”

The tiniest instance of a frown graced Eren’s features as he absorbed what Levi had said. He was lucky that Levi wasn’t in a bad mood this morning, because typically, his whole spiel would have been filed under “things and people who have wasted Levi’s time.”

“I understand. I can keep brainstorming if you’d like, but I’ll need a bit of direction to help.”

Levi sighed.

“That’s the catch, you’re supposed to be the one with direction. I’m just the guy who signs off on stuff.”

Eren’s eyes lowered to his feet, which were apparently more interesting than keeping eye contact with his slightly frustrated quasi-boss.

“Alright. I get it. I’m trying my best, but to be honest, you don’t have the best reputation with quite a few companies in terms of being easy to work with, which makes this harder for us as well. As much as I’d love to put Sina out there, you’re very particular when it comes to funding and financial arrangements, which infinitely makes my job harder.”

Ah, yes. Levi was not paid enough to deal with this bold shit so early in the day. Levi placed his coffee down gently and pulled on his glasses, taking no time to hold eye contact with Eren.

“Dismissed.”

“What?” Eren asked, brows furrowing. “Dismissed?”

Levi nodded. “I have nothing else to add to the conversation, so it’s over. I’ll call Survey and ask.” Eren sat there, lips parted and eyes narrowing.

“Did you hear what I said?”

“Yes, and I don’t make nearly enough money to hear your mouth spew such ballsy bullshit this early into the morning and this early into your career.” Levi started typing. “I suggest you tell your “team” what I agreed to and get to work on the next project. I’ll have Hanji update you on what we’ll decide.”

Eren stared at Levi.

“Mr. Ackerman, I’m serious. This is limiting. I don’t want to lose my job here, but I can’t do what i’ve been hired to do if we run into problems like this.”

“Problems like what?” Levi asked, peering over his frames at Eren. “Problems like me taking my position seriously? If that’s considered a problem, you have a lot to learn.”

The marketing director blew air through his nose. “I’m plenty capable, thank you.”

“Mhmm.” Levi hummed, looking back at his screen. “We’ll see.”

“We’ll see?” Eren scoffed. “Fine. We will.” Standing up, Eren looked at Levi again. “I’ll be sure that we work something out. It’ll be helpful if you take the stick out of your ass.”

“I kinda like it there, makes the workday more pleasurable. Now get out of my fucking office before I call someone to escort you.” Levi replied, scowling. “Statements like that are no way to keep your job, so you better watch it.”

Eren shrugged. “It’s not to be rude, it’s to make sure you know that I can only do as much as I can, and that currently, you’re the largest obstacle to anything else we can come up with right now.”

“Well, it was received as rude. Have a good day, Jaeger.” Sighing, Eren turned to leave Levi’s office (domain) but ran into the human embodiment of a brick wall.

“Oh, Eren! How nice to see you working hard this morning.” Erwin said with a smile. Levi scoffed in the back. “Levi, did you tell him about the trip?”

“The what?” Levi and Eren said in unison. Eren, because he was not aware there was any sort of trip, and Levi, because he was dumbfounded on why Erwin would mention this in front of Eren. He was basically a bran new employee who had no rights. There was no reason for him to know about this.

Much to Levi’s dismay, apparently there was plenty of reason for Eren to need information on the trip.

“I’m sorry Eren, I thought perhaps Levi had mentioned it this morning, seeing as you two got coffee.” Erwin gestured to the men’s drinks.

_Note, Eren will never step foot in my office before hours ever again._

_“_ Nope.” They said in unison again. Erwin’s eyes switched between the two of them. A knowing expression passed his face, one that Levi knew all too well. Erwin was plotting. This was dangerous.

“Well, we have a business trip to meet a potential client coming up. We’ll be in Vegas. Since you and your team will be needed anyway, how about you all come with?”

Levi dropped his pen.

“Absolutely not, they are brand-spankin’-new. We do _not_ need a group of freshmen partying in Vegas while we do business.” Erwin chuckled.

“Levi, it’s actually a smart move. I’m sure they can handle themselves, and I would love to see them meet clients outside of the building or a phone call. I think it would be great exposure for them.” Levi sighed. Erwin was actually incredibly wrong, but there was no way Eren’s team would be missing this trip unless they were all fired or ended up terribly ill.

Eren had worked there two days. _Two._ This was a royal mistake by Erwin. Although the trip was next week, this was clearly not enough time for Eren’s group to be vetted and trained to be successful out there. Levi racked his brain for any reason to trust them with clients, but came up a bit short with only one. Eren had clearly been praised by Hanji and Erwin for his previous work. To Levi, this wasn’t enough. To Erwin and Hanji, this was the only qualification needed.

“Plus, Eren and his team have had jobs before this. It isn’t like they don’t know what to do, right Eren?” Erwin asked, smiling at Eren, who looked a bit confused.

“Right…” Eren responded slowly, glancing towards Levi. Levi shook his head and grumbled. He was supposed to have a relaxing time.

“I’m not babysitting their asses.” Levi responded. He was not planning on saying anything else. This was a losing battle that Levi did not have the time for.

“Great! I’ll let you know more information soon, Eren. Good work so far. I’m excited to see what you come up with in the future for Sina. Give your partners my regards.” After shaking Eren’s hand, Erwin made his exit.

“I’m serious.” Levi stated, peering up at Eren again. “I’m not babysitting your sorry kindergarten ass. If you fuck this up, I’m not coming to help.”

“Pfft. I don’t need babysitting, and I’m _not_ kindergarten.” Eren remarked, crossing his arms and jutting out a hip.

“First grade then.”

“I’m an adult!”

“And I’m six feet tall. Now that we’ve both lied, get out of my office.” Levi responded coldly. Eren stood there, presumably wishing for a swift death at this point.

“I’ve never been to Vegas before. Have you? Is it fun?”

Eren really had a death wish.

“I’m sorry, I don’t recall asking. Please, for christssakes, fuck off.” Levi groaned, pinching the bridge of his jose.

“Jeez, fine. I’ll let you know if we get anything else done then.”

Levi clicked his tongue. “You’ll let _Hanji_ know. I have a lot to do today, and I can’t be having any more impromptu bonding sessions.”

“ _This_ is bonding? God, i’d hate to see what your friends or significant other goes through.”

“Good thing I have two friends and no significant other.”

Eren laughed. God, why? Why was he laughing? Was the fact he was pissing Levi off _funny_? Levi smacked his own forehead.

“Piss off Jaeger, please. I have so much work to do and as much as I appreciate the coffee run and _pleasant_ conversation, I actually value my work and plan to complete some of it today.”

“Woulda never thunk.” Eren replied, walking off into the corridor. Levi’s forehead made sweet love to the desk again, as he sighed.

Now he would be in charge of yet _another_ set of irresponsible human beings in the capital city of irresponsibility. As much as he hated to admit it, Erwin was right on their credentials though. Eren’s team had been hired on merit and had impressive resumes. They would _most likely_ be able to hold their own.

This thought didn’t satisfy Levi though. Instead, Levi focused on the idea of not being able to relax in his off time while on his business trip. It was highly likely that he would have to _do things_ with the group knowing Hanji. He was usually left alone, which meant he could spend plenty of time in his huge Vegas hotel room taking baths and watching the news with expensive wine.

His free time was sacred to him, and it was borderline repulsive that he would have to give some of that up to bring a group of young gung-ho marketing kids to the gambling central of the US.

_Fuck._

Yeah, _fuck_ was right. Levi spent a moment of silence mourning his upcoming “vacation” before deciding to start on his list of calls. Fifth on his list was the Survey Corporation. For some reason, as much as he willed himself to skip the call completely, he ended up punching in their number first.

As much as he hated to admit it again, Eren was probably right, and was spot-on with his personality analysis. Levi wasn’t easy to get along with. If he was easy to get along with, he felt like people would take advantage of him, like they do with Erwin and Hanji. That, to Levi, was unacceptable.

It was, acceptable, however, to purposely make decisions that would benefit someone else. That wasn’t being taken advantage of, that was consciously choosing to put someone else first. Or, at least, that’s what Levi told himself as he put on his best attitude with the person from Survey.

It was benefitting the company. It was benefiting Levi. But somewhere, deep down, Levi knew that above all, this would be a win for Eren. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> mmmmmm creativity maybe coming back? hope you guys enjoyed!


	4. the plan is in motion

Hanji’s fingers tapped wildly on their desk, waiting for Eren to return from his meeting with Levi. This was, of course, planned. 

Levi and Hanji had been friends for as long as they could remember, and out of everyone who knew Levi, Hanji took first prize for knowing the most. More so, Hanji had the uncanny ability to figure out exactly what Levi needed at any given moment. In this present moment, Levi needed to get laid. Or at least, he needed someone to take his mind off of work. He had been strung up on coffee and paperwork for as long as they could remember, and it was high time that Levi had some fun. 

However, Levi wasn’t really what you’d consider to be the beacon of fun, so Hanji had to improvise by shoving a beautiful green-eyed man right under Levi’s nose; hoping that Eren would be an enticing enough treat for Levi to temporarily forget that the only fun he’d had in the last few years was the once-a-year get together at Erwin’s for his birthday. Seeing as it was January, Levi had quite some time to go. 

“So, Eren! How did it go with our resident grumpy-pants?” Eren sighed as he walked into Hanji’s office, dejected from his last interaction with his boss. Was Levi his boss? Eren wasn’t actually sure, but he assumed so. 

“It went fine. He’s really... Frustrating to work with. He’s really difficult.” Eren slumped down on the bean bag in front of Hanji’s desk. They didn’t believe in  being uncomfortable at the office. 

Actually, Eren was more than dejected. He was upset bordering on angry at the fact that Levi had treated him like he knew nothing. Had Eren known Levi more, he would have realized that Levi had actually been going quite easy on him this whole time. Since Eren didn’t know Levi that well though, Levi’s attitude pissed him off. 

He wasn’t sure how to approach Levi. He was off-putting, cold, and wasn’t the least bit eloquent. Eren had already pitched two  _ actually _ decent ideas to the man, the first of which was shot down immediately, and the second was only reluctantly accepted. The  _ only _ upside about working with Levi was that he was a little attractive. Just a tiny bit. A smidge. It would be nice if he had a personality to match the looks, but Eren only had so much luck to go around. 

“Yeah, he’s a bit difficult. But! I believe in you. He seems to have already accepted one of your ideas, right?” Hanji encouraged, hoping that Eren would start to cheer up. Without Eren’s determination, nobody would be going anywhere in this little romance game, and it was unlikely for Levi to make the first move. “I know he’s a tough nut to crack, but I promise that once he’s open, it’ll be much easier for you.”

Eren sighed again, and put his chin in his hands. “Honestly, Hanji, I’ve only been working with him for two days and it already feels like two too many. I’ve never had this much difficulty communicating with someone, and he controls the money! How are we supposed to get anything done if he constantly acts like he doesn’t give a shit about anything we pitch?” Hanji nodded. 

“Like I said, he just takes some time. You haven’t been fired yet, which is impressive. He obviously doesn’t hate you. Please, pretty please, just stick with it for a bit more?” Their brown eyes shown in the sunlight coming in from the window, putting on their best puppy dog face. Eren shook his head. 

“Well, you’re in luck, because Erwin said we’d all be going with you guys to Vegas for a business trip.” 

Hanji stopped breathing for a few moments. Eren... Was coming with?  _ Oh  _ _ hohoho _ _. This makes everything so much easier. _ __

Hanji really thought that Eren would be good for Levi. If not for a relationship, as least as a close friend. Although, they weren’t exactly sure it would ever progress to “friendship,” but at least someone else for Levi to talk to on a bi-weekly basis. Levi had been too grumpy for too long, and Hanji and Erwin could only shoulder so much attitude before they got tired and gave out. Although Hanji had an abundance of energy, they really knew it was time for Levi to settle down some. 

“Interesting...” Hanji said, pushing their glasses up their nose. Eren didn’t know Hanji super well, but he knew enough to feel slightly nervous. “Well, I assume you  _ are _ going, correct?”

“Uh, well, I guess. If we need to. I’m sure I can convince everyone to go, especially Jean. He would be ecstatic to go to Vegas for a week.” Eren rubbed the back of his neck. “I honestly don’t feel like we’re prepared to go at all, and I’m a bit confused as to why we were invited.” 

Hanji thought for a moment. It was peculiar that they were being invited, seeing as they were so new. But Eren’s team had great reviews and a lot of good projects under their belts. It wasn’t out of the ordinary. 

“I’m sure Erwin invited you guys for a reason! Don’t think about it too hard, and make sure to pack your suitcases!” Hanji exclaimed as they rose from their chair. “Now, I have to make some calls, so go see those comrades of yours and let them know the big news.” 

Eren and nodded and stood up. “Thanks Hanji, I appreciate the support. I’ll keep you posted!” 

As soon as Eren was out the door, Hanji had their ear on the phone and their finger dialing one Levi Ackerman for the dirty details. 

* * *

_ Ring  _ _ ring _ _. Ring ring.  _

Levi sighed as he glanced at the caller ID. Of  _ fucking  _ _ course _ it was Hanji. This was probably all Hanji’s doing. Reluctantly, he picked up the phone. 

“What, shitty glasses? What could you possibly be calling me about?” Levi heard Hanji snicker from the other end of the line. 

“Oh, I heard that your favorite marketing director scored a spot on the Vegas trip!”

Levi huffed.  _ Of course they did.  _

_ “ _ I call you four-eyes, but I should really change that to “four-ears” considering you’re always ass deep in other people’s business. Yes, Erwin invited the little fucker today.” Levi pinched the bridge of his nose, inhaling deeply. Stress was his best friend and worst enemy. Today, they were not best friends. 

“Sooo... He’s coming with, right?” 

“Are you fucking deaf? I literally just told you Erwin invited him.” 

Hanji laughed. “Doesn’t mean he’s going  though . Did he confirm with you?” 

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, if you already know so much, why don’t you ask him yourself?”

“I already did.” 

_ Ugh. _ Levi let his head fall to his desk. Hanji always knew. They  _ always _ planned out these things. They were  _ supposed _ to make Levi’s life better, but usually, Hanji’s schemes just took five years off of his life. 

“Alright then shit-for-brains, then you already know the answer. Why the hell are you bothering me during my work day? I have calls to make.” Levi turned in his swivel chair, looking out the window and wishing for either his swift death or freedom. Either one was acceptable. 

“He’s going. I just wanted to see if  _ you _ knew.”

“Why would I care if he’s going with? The only reason it would impact me is if I have to end up holding his hair while he vomits in some casino bathroom, which I already confirmed I would  _ not  _ be doing.” 

Hanji snickered. “You guys just seem to get on well, so I figured you’d be excited to have a friend come with.” 

Levi scoffed. Was Hanji stupid as well? Or just deaf? Eren and him weren’t even close to friends, let alone coworkers. They had known each other two days, and Levi wasn’t about to let a man he’d known for two days come anywhere near his inner circle. Levi was a private person. Hanji and Erwin were company enough. 

“You must have lost some brain cells during your last scheme, because Eren and I aren’t friends. He’s barely even a coworker, and honestly, I have half a mind to fire him for having lackluster ideas.” Yeah, okay, part of this problem of lackluster ideas was in the fact that Levi was shooting down everything put in front of him, but that was neither here nor there. 

“If I remember every other person you’ve fired for the same reason, they were gone within twenty-four hours. So, either you fire him today to prove how awful he is, or I’m going to assume he’s not half bad. You don’t beat around the bush with employees.” 

Sighing, Levi hung up on Hanji and stared at his wall. They were right. Usually, Levi would have already fired Eren.  Sina had a  30 day probationary period where anyone could be fired without cause, so Levi had been sure to use that generously with some of Hanji’s other hires. But truth be told, Levi couldn’t bring himself to even consider firing Eren. 

The kid was a hard worker, and clearly a people-pleaser. Levi could already tell that Eren’s attitude would switch from frustration to determination as his ideas continually got shot down. Eren wasn’t the type of guy to back down from a challenge, so by default, he wasn’t the type of guy to back down from Levi’s incessant demands. He also worked hard and has passion for his job, something which Levi appreciated, and, dare he admit it, admired in a person. 

There was no reason to fire Eren. And although he could be fired without cause, Levi couldn’t fathom dealing with another marketing team so soon. He hadn’t spoken at length with any of Eren’s team, but Levi figured that if they were working with Eren, they also had to be somewhat competent at their jobs. There was no way Eren would keep dead weight on the team. 

Considering all of this, Levi decided that Eren most definitely wouldn’t be fired in twenty-hour hours, and would therefore be coming with to Vegas. A mistake? Perhaps, but at least Levi could put it down in his books as a selfless business decision to help a budding marketing team. It would look good on Levi, and it would look good for Eren’s team. Everyone wins here. 

A few hours and couple more coffees later, and Levi was done with all of his calls for the day. Levi packed up to head out slightly early, because he felt like he had deserved it. He had successfully claimed the campaign with Survey Corp, and had already set them up for a meeting in Vegas. Levi had also been  _ not rude _ on the phone with most of the people he spoke to, which was a huge win. Levi was just winning left and right today. 

“Hey, Mr. Ackerman?” 

Levi dropped a stack of papers on the ground and whipped his head up. “Jesus, Jaeger, you scared the piss out of me. Why are you here again?” 

Eren rubbed the back of his neck and then put his hands in his pockets. He didn’t look too  enthralled to be speaking to Levi. “Hanji said that my team should definitely come with to Vegas, but you didn’t seem super excited to have us there.” He nervously shuffled on his feet. “I just wanted to make sure we would be welcomed on the trip. I feel like communication is important, so I really wanted to confirm.” 

Levi groaned internally. This kid was wasting his precious time, as usual. “Look, I told you, you’re invited and you’re allowed to come. Is there an issue that I’m missing? Do you need a golden ticket?” He really wanted to get home, jog, make dinner, and then take his nightly bath. He did not want to sit here arguing semantics with some shitty brat of a new employee who wanted a hand-delivered invitation to a company function. 

“What? No! I just... I wanted to make sure I wasn’t pissing you off by coming with. You seemed angry.” Eren grabbed at the ends of his brown hair, which had fallen out of the bun he kept it in. It now landed slightly past his shoulders. The  flyaways were a look. 

Levi picked up his briefcase and stood up. “Everyone invited you, so don’t second guess yourself or regret your choices. I don’t give a rat’s ass if you come with, so knock yourself out. But, let it be 100% known that I will not be rescuing you or your friends if you get in trouble, and I will  _ not  _ bail anyone out of jail.” Levi paused for a second to clean up his coffee cups. “Why do you care anyway if I want you to come or not? I’m not your keeper.” 

The faintest hint of a blush tinged Eren’s tan cheeks. So faint, that Levi wouldn’t have noticed had he not somehow memorized Eren’s skin color already. 

“I just didn’t want to cause any issues, sir. Just wanted to make sure everyone was alright with it.” 

Levi nodded. “Well, you don’t need to get your panties in a twist over it. I don’t give a damn and I’m sure Hanji would love to have you guys around.” 

Eren sighed appreciatively. “Thank you, Mr. Ackerman. We won’t let you down!” He turned to leave, but much to Levi’s annoyance, decided to continue talking. “I’ll go tell everybody. Do you and Erwin and Hanji need us to be at any meetings?”

Levi looked down at the imaginary watch on his forearm. With a hint of irritation, he replied, “Last time I checked, the trip is in a week, and it’s the end of my day in this godforsaken building, so even if Hanji begged me to be in the conference room until the cows came home, I would rather be eating my own shit than sit there for a second longer. I’ve got shit to do, Jaeger, go home.” Eren nodded. 

“Why are you always so angry?” He asked, one eyebrow raised, a small smirk appearing. “You apparently shit money for a living, you’d assume you were happy to be here yelling at clients all day.” 

Levi huffed and crossed his arms. Eren had much to learn about working. Maybe it was just because Eren was young, or perhaps he really did enjoy the corporate lifestyle. Levi had long wanted to remove himself from the confines of his office, no matter how gorgeous it was. A small price to pay for fleeting comfort. 

“Why are you always asking so many questions? I have to eat to live, brat.” Eren’s eyes widened.

“First you call me “kid,” now “brat?” I’m a fully grown adult, thanks for the concern.” He was getting a bit feisty. Levi’s lip unintentionally turned up at the side, only slight enough for both Levi to notice that he thought the attitude was funny (or maybe adorable,) and Eren to realize that his “old-man-yells-at-cloud" boss had the capability of looking anything but 100% done with being alive. 

“Well, you’re certainly tall enough. We’ll see if you act like it. Now, go home before I put my foot through your ass because I have things to do and people to avoid.” Levi picked up all of his things and headed through the door, Eren standing there lamely. Looking at Eren, Levi clicked his tongue. “You coming? Or are you going to just stand there and fart in my office? I’m leaving and I WILL lock you in there if you don’t go home.” 

Eren nodded and followed behind Levi. He would have to go connect with Mikasa, Jean, and Armin about their new opportunity. Jean, or as Levi called him, the one who looked like a horse, would be (no pun intended,) chomping at the bit to go to Vegas. Mikasa, “scary,” wouldn’t be as excited, because she would likely be the one who would have to babysit, the exact same job that Levi already avoided responsibility of. Armin, the “he-man” looking kid, would be nonchalant about the whole affair, but probably slightly nervous about the thought of Jean and the prospect of gambling being within the same vicinity. 

Eren, himself, was pretty excited. He hadn’t been to Vegas before, nor had he traveled anywhere but Germany, and only to see family. It seemed like Hanji and Erwin were happy to have them join, and Eren was secretly relieved that Levi hadn’t put up much of a fight. 

How would Levi act when he was out of the office? Eren pondered this on his way home. Levi seemed like the type of guy to go to the meetings, grab a drink at the hotel bar, and then watch movies afterwards. He didn’t seem like he would be up for gambling or up for partying. It was a good thing that Eren had grown out of his “party hard” stage in college. He was always up for a fun time, but a responsible one. If Jean made them look bad, Eren was going to be pissed. 

But, Eren had people to talk to and things to announce. So, he refused to think of the negative  possibilities , and instead chose to focus on the things he could make sure were perfect. The first of which being that everyone agreed to come along, the second being that everyone was on their best behavior. 

* * *

Back at the office, Hanji had their ear glued to the phone with Erwin. 

“They said yes! And Levi didn’t even put up a fight! You sly bastard, I didn’t even THINK of inviting them with.” Hanji excitedly  exclaimed , twirling the wire around their finger. “I only wanted Levi and Eren to have more interaction, so I’ve been sending him to talk to Levi every so often. I think it might work!” 

They heard Erwin chuckle on the other end of the line. No, Hanji hadn’t been the one to advance the invitation, but they were pleasantly surprised that Erwin was a page ahead. 

“Of course, plus, it’ll actually be good for us. The teams we’ll be working with would love to speak to them, and I can only imagine how Eren and his associates will act around them. So far, they’ve been nothing but superstars in here, and have gotten more done in 48 hours than the last team did in a week. Good work, Hanji.” 

Hanji gleamed. This was all going far easier than they had hoped. All they had wanted was for some gentle, easy interactions. But now? Levi would be stuck with Eren for a whole week. A smirk tore at Hanji’s lips. 

“So, Erwin, tell me about the plane and hotel arrangements. I may have a few requests.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> shorter chapter for some plot arrangements hehe
> 
> i hope everyone enjoys!


End file.
